


Forgetting to Eat

by Spannah339



Series: Bad Things Happen [9]
Category: Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon), Tangled (2010)
Genre: Bad Lab Practices, Forgetting to eat, Gen, Team Awesome, Varian is learning good habits
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-18
Updated: 2020-07-18
Packaged: 2021-03-05 09:14:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,905
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25348300
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spannah339/pseuds/Spannah339
Summary: Varian fell asleep on Eugene's bed like 2 seconds later
Relationships: Eugene Fitzherbert | Flynn Rider & Varian
Series: Bad Things Happen [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1485323
Comments: 14
Kudos: 127





	Forgetting to Eat

It was starting to get late, and Ruddiger was trying to draw his attention to that fact. Varian waved the raccoon away, darting across the room and scribbling something onto the wall. He paused, reading through the scattered notes that spilled from the blackboard and began to cover the walls of his laboratory, running through a few equations in his mind as he did. 

“Yeah, yeah, one second, Ruddiger,” he said absently as the raccoon chattered at him from on top of the blackboard. With a chirp, Ruddiger bounded to his shoulders, making Varian sway slightly at the impact. “Careful buddy - look, I just gotta finish this, then I’ll head to bed, okay?” 

Ruddiger didn’t seem convinced, but Varian ignored him, running a finger over the vials kept on one of the many shelves in his laboratory. Moving into the castle as the royal engineer had many perks - he could have as much room and supplies as he needed. 

He grabbed a vial that was glowing slightly purple, moving back to the table, covered with various vials and pipes. Carefully, he leaned over the desk, eyes furrowed as he poured a single drop into one of the tubes. 

There was a knock at the door, startling him, and he watched with horror as he poured half the vial into the tubes. 

“Oh, no no no!” he cried, darting around the table and watching as the chemical slowly made its way through the tubes. “Ruddiger, I need the extinguisher!” 

Ruddiger leapt off his shoulder as Varian pulled his goggles down hard, trying to pull a tube out of the whole set up before the chemical came into contact with the other chemical in the set up already. 

“Hey, you alright, kid?” 

Eugene’s voice came from outside and Varian ground his teeth, giving up on trying to stop the reaction and taking cover under the table. 

“Uh I’m -” his reply to Eugene was cut off by an explosion rocking the table and making Varian’s ears ring. He curled under the table, hands pressed over his ears, waiting for the ringing to die down. 

Eugene rushed into the room almost before the explosion died down, looking like he had just kicked down the door. 

“Varian? You alrig - holy what happened?” 

For a long moment, Varian lay under the table, suddenly not having the strength to pull himself up. He heard the telltale small  _ poof _ of an extinguisher ball being thrown at the table by Ruddiger. He knew he should get up, but his body was refusing to cooperate. 

“Varian?” Eugene’s face appeared under the table, looking concerned. Forcing a slightly shaky smile, Varian pushed himself up onto his hands, feeling surprisingly empty. “You alright, kid?” 

“I’m okay,” he said. “Just… miscalculated the measurements.” That was the  _ last _ time he was going to pour something directly from the vial. He had droppers for a reason. 

To be fair, he had told himself that last time something had gone wrong.

He gladly accepted Eugene’s hand and let the other man help him out, narrowly missing hitting his head on the underside of the table. Ruddiger chattered nervously as he emerged, leaping onto his shoulder, another extinguisher ball in his paws. 

The set up had been almost completely destroyed, glass shards from the various beakers and tubes scattered across the slightly charred table. Varian winched at the sight, wrapping an arm around his body. Another failure. 

“Alright, kid, checklist time,” Eugene said, marching him across the room and forcing him to sit down in a greatly underused chair by his desk. “When’d you last sleep?” 

Varian frowned, thinking back through the day. 

“Dad made me sleep about… five hours? Last night,” he said. “And Ruddiger was trying to get me to go sleep, so I’ll sleep soon.” 

“Yeah, I’ve heard that one before,” Eugene said, mock glaring down at him. Varian had the grace to look slightly sheepish. “However, five hours, while not enough, isn’t as bad as I was expecting. Next thing on the list! Water - when was the last thing you drank anything?” He was pacing up and down in front of Varian, checking his fingers off as he spoke. Varian had a sudden strange feeling that he was being interrogated. 

He gestured to the bottle that had been knocked off the table by the explosion. Rapunzel had made it for him when she learned how easy it was for him to get lost in an idea - a bottle to keep water in so he didn’t have to go looking for it. Or not, as was more likely the case.

Eugene crossed the room quickly, picking it up and shaking it gently. The water inside sloshed slightly, but it was clear it was mostly empty. 

“I filled it up this morning. Only some of it was used in my experiment!” 

Eugene opened the bottle, peering inside. 

“Okay, have to admit, once again - not as bad as I was expecting.” He twisted the lid back onto the bottle, placing it onto the table and moved back to where Varian was still sitting. 

“I’m getting better at looking after myself,” Varian muttered, looking away. “It helps that everyone’s nagging at me about it.” 

He didn’t want to admit it, but it was nice. It was nice to have Rapunzel worried about how much he was drinking, to have his father forcing him to go to bed at a decent time, to have Eugene walk him through his habits for the day. It was nice to know people cared enough about him to help him. 

It was also nice to not have headaches from lack of sleep, or feel parched and dry without knowing why because he hadn’t been drinking enough. 

“So what you’re saying is that you want us to keep nagging at you?” Eugene asked. Varian looked up at him with a slight grin, running a hand through Ruddiger’s fur. 

“I don’t know if I said  _ that _ ,” he said. 

“Well, I’m going to. Final thing on the checklist - when was the last time you ate anything?” 

Oh. 

His smile faltered slightly at that as he cast his mind back, trying to place when it had been. Not today, that was for sure. Unless he counted that half an apple he had shared with Ruddiger. 

(Now that he thought about it, Ruddiger had practically forced that thing down his throat.) 

“I can see by your face that it’s been a while,” Eugene said. Varian frowned, still trying to place when it was. 

“Rapunzel brought me some bread she’d baked!” he said finally, remembering. Eugene crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow and Varian dropped his eyes. “Yesterday afternoon.” 

Now that it came to his attention, that was probably why he’d been feeling so off today. He’d been so caught up in finishing this experiment he hadn’t even  _ thought _ about eating. 

“Okay kid, let’s go,” Eugene said, holding out a hand. Varian took it hesitantly, unsure what Eugene’s tone of voice meant. “We’re raiding the kitchens.” 

“Wh -” Varian began. 

“You and me, you can have a chance to see how Flynn Rider works first hand.” Eugene hauled him up, and despite himself, Varian felt a slight rush of excitement. Maybe his obsession with Flynn Rider had been childish, but part of him couldn’t help but be excited at the chance of sneaking around with Eugene. Even if it was just the kitchens. 

“Team Awesome Operation Kitchen Raid,” Eugene said, holding out a fist. Varian grinned, bumping it quickly. “Stick close and follow my lead, kid.” 

Half an hour later, Varian’s stomach feeling comfortably full, they were sitting in Eugene’s room, surrounded the remains of various treats, fruits and an apple pie Varian was pretty sure  _ someone _ would miss in the morning. (Ruddiger had insisted they take it. Who was he to say no?) 

He sat on Eugene’s bed, legs tucked under him, nibbling at the leftovers of a croissant. Eugene was seated on the floor, Ruddiger curled up in his lap in a comfortable food coma. 

“Hey, Varian?” Eugene said, looking up from where he was running his hands through the raccoon’s fur. Varian blinked awake from the food coma  _ he _ was starting to slip into. 

“Yeah?” he asked, sensing from Eugene’s tone it was important. 

“You gotta look after yourself, kid.” 

“I’m getting better,” Varian said quietly. He  _ was _ . Back at home, in Old Corona, he would go days without eating, without sleeping, drinking only when his father forced him too.

And the month or so of mad, manic work, trying to find a way to free his father, to  _ save _ his father - well, he didn’t like to think about that. 

It was enough to say if Ruddiger hadn’t been there, he probably wouldn't have eaten at all. 

“I know you are, Hairstripe,” Eugene said. He shifted slightly, Ruddiger giving him a sleepy scolding. “Just… know that we worry about you.” 

Varian looked down, feeling slightly guilty. He wasn’t used to people caring about his wellbeing, he wasn’t used to letting people down by  _ not looking after himself _ . Weren’t there enough ways he was already doing that? 

“I’m sorry,” he muttered, blinking back sudden tears. 

“Woah, hey, wait a sec, kid.” Eugene shifted, lifting Ruddiger and standing. “Sorry buddy,” he muttered to the indignant raccoon as he sat on the bed beside Varian. Laying a hand on Varian’s shoulder, he spoke again, his voice soft. “Look, we worry about you because we care. And we don’t expect you to do it alone, okay?  _ I  _ don’t expect you do to it alone.” 

Varian looked up, blinking down tears again. Eugene’s face was soft, empty of any blame and Varian felt a lump in his throat at that. His father cared - he  _ knew _ \- but his father tended to look at him disapprovingly when he forgot to ate, to blame him for not looking after himself. 

And maybe it  _ was _ his fault, but sometimes it was just  _ so hard _ to remember when he got caught up in something. 

“Just... let me know if I’m pushing too hard, okay?” Eugene said. 

“No!” Varian said quickly. “I - I mean… it helps. Having you, and Rapunzel… and, and everyone helping. Sometimes I forget to eat or sleep and… it helps to know….” He trailed off, suddenly unsure if he could say what he wanted to.

“ _ It helps to know people care _ .” Because he knew they  _ did _ care, but sometimes he wondered  _ why _ . He still wasn’t sure he had completely made up for what he had done. The nightmares still haunted him, sometimes he wondered how they had forgiven him at all. 

“We do care, Varian,” Eugene said quietly. “And no one blames you - it just takes time to break bad habits. Tell you what,” his voice was lighter now, less serious, but still full of love. “I’ll come find you for lunch and we can eat together? How’s that?” 

Varian smiled slightly, nodding. Then, before he could think to stop himself, lunged forward and wrapped his arms around Eugene’s waist. Eugene pulled him closer and he closed his eyes, burying his face in his friend’s chest. Ruddiger, awake now, purred softly, bounding onto his shoulder and curling around him, warm and familiar. 

“Thank you,” he muttered quietly. 

Sometimes he wondered how he had got so lucky to get a family he didn’t deserve after all he had done. But he wouldn’t give it up for the world. 

**Author's Note:**

> Varian fell asleep on Eugene's bed like 2 seconds later


End file.
